This article is sponsored by Highwire Games.
Six Days in Fallujah is nearing release, and it promises to be the most realistic depiction of warfare seen in a video game. Created by Highwire Games, Six Days was built from an idea by US Marine Sergeant Eddie Garcia after suffering a terrible injury during the Second Battle of Fallujah. His vision was to create a game that would put players directly into soldiers' boots and deliver an experience showing the reality of war. That's what the team at Highwire has achieved.
A far cry from the likes of Call of Duty, Six Days in Fallujah puts a spotlight on challenging scenarios that players will need to overcome. You can't spray and pray your way to victory; instead, you will need to utilize precision and smart tactics to take down your enemies and complete your objectives. With tense features such as procedural map generation and intelligent enemy AI, tactical shooter fans will find plenty to keep them engaged as they experience the true stories of veterans that fought during the battle.
Some core tenets of Six Days' gameplay are a sense of unpredictability, an emphasis on tactical proficiency, a focus on teamwork, and the sensation of feeling vulnerable at all times. Six Days isn't a forgiving game where you can soak up bullets, then hide behind a wall to recover health. If you take fire from enemy forces, you must patch up your wounds quickly, or else you'll bleed out. There is no reloading from a checkpoint or calling in reinforcements. If you die, the mission is over.
Players will feel this sensation thanks to Six Days' innovative block-scale AI. With the ability to scan the battlefield, like how humans perform reconnaissance, enemies can appear from nearly anywhere. They have the ability to flank, stalk, and ambush players from above, below, behind, or to the sides. They can scale buildings, jump through windows, and kick down doors to avoid incoming fire. All of these options are available to the player, so you'll need to utilize these tactics to complete your mission.
What makes these tactics so invaluable is that Six Days in Fallujah employs a procedural map generation system. During discussions with combat veterans, the team at Highwire Games learned that most of the marines and soldiers involved in the Second Battle of Fallujah had no idea what they were walking into. To recapture that sensation, that feeling of the unknown, Six Days will generate a new map each time you start a mission. There won't be any memorization to help you overcome choke points or get the drop on enemies. You'll need to think on your feet and deal with threats as they come.
High fatality is what amplifies the threat in Six Days. Unlike most shooters, where you return fire when taking damage. Six Days handles this very differently. If you're under fire, retaliating is not an option. You must treat your injuries before you can re-engage in combat. If you fail to dress your wound promptly after being shot, you'll succumb to blood loss, leaving your squad at a strategic disadvantage.
Six Days in Fallujah is built around a squad of four players filling out different roles. While Highwire understands that not everyone has friends available at all times, the Early Access launch of the game will only feature cooperative or single-player options without AI teammates. When the game launches in its 1.0 version, AI squad mates will be available to help fill out any missing players. Just like enemy AI, your squad mates will have complex AI that makes them feel realistic.
The missions included with the Early Access launch will cover stories from real veterans that fought during the Second Battle of Fallujah. Each mission has a unique primary objective but will feature randomized secondary objectives that can help players turn the tides in their favor. You have no control over which mission you tackle as it will be chosen randomly by the game, but players can reattempt a mission should they fail it. This system, coupled with procedural generation, will make even the same story feel different during multiple playthroughs.
While Six Days in Fallujah won't launch with all of these features, Highwire Games promises to update the game over time to include all of the following when it eventually releases for consoles and PC.
● Additional missions, types of weather, time of day settings, and enemy types
● AI teammates that can be directed by players
● Civilians populating each map
● The ability to play as an Iraqi soldier against Al Qaeda
● A selection of Spec Ops missions with unique weapons, vehicles, and gear
● More Story Campaign missions with accurately recreated stories
